President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has visited Dh. Meedhoo to celebrate the victory of PNC candidate Suha Ibrahim, who won the Dh. Meedhoo Island Council President's seat.

PNC won yesterday's vote after competing against the MDA candidate, following a High Court ruling that resulted in a tied vote for the Meedhoo Council President's post after a recount. Out of the 1,049 people eligible to vote in the by-election, 985 individuals cast their ballots. According to the provisional results, Suha won the seat with 529 votes, while MDA candidate Mohamed Shahid received 449 votes.

As the President visited the island to celebrate this victory, Meedhoo is the island to which Madam Sajidha Mohamed's mother belongs. Furthermore, the First Lady participated in several campaign activities held on the island to secure the seat.

Suha has won the seat through this re-election after the initial local council elections held last April, where she originally won by a margin of just one vote, ended in a tie between the two candidates when one of Suha's votes was invalidated.

In that election, Suha initially received 393 votes, Shahid received 392 votes, and independent candidate Ibrahim Naseem received 100 votes.

A vote previously counted for Suha was first invalidated after it was proven that an individual without voting rights had cast a ballot in the box kept at L. Fonadhoo. Consequently, with the two candidates tied, a recount of the Fonadhoo box gave the MDA candidate the Meedhoo Council President seat by a margin of just one vote.

However, Suha filed a case with the High Court claiming that two of her vote ballots were wrongly invalidated, and last month the High Court ruled that one of those votes was valid.

As a result, following the tie between the two candidates, the EC conducted a by-election. With PNC securing the Meedhoo Council President's seat, the party has now decided to hold a function tonight to celebrate the victory.